The Real Mark- All I did was find a BG with the effect I wanted. I go to CGTextures.com for textures in general. I then applied it to my psd file with the Overlay/soft light blending mode of the layer. Mess around with the bleding modes and opacity. Hope that helps!

Holy shit... this page must be one of the best for a good few months. The roof is on fire!

Brokencow: love those tight studies. Great palette and just the right amount of subtle texture to sell.
RV: Deeply loving that knight in the field. Your ideas come across strong with little noodling beyond what is needed.
Farvus: Wondering what one of them would look like after another hour. Lovely.
Zupzup: Killer Dagobah. I'm not the biggest SW fan, but I have long loved your simplicity of strokes.
STPo: Hehe... loving this C&H workout you are enjoying.
Sansan: Always fresh and to the point. I wish I had that mindset.
Wiredgear: Love that slash across the sun/moon (?) in the first image. Loose as a goose.
Speaking of Goose: Damn, massive love for masses of simple shapes that convey massive structure!
Nachoyague: Those are tight as fuck, you beautiful son of a bitch! More please.

A fairly decent speedpaint I ended up ruining after too much noodling...

Anyone else had the same experience where you reach a point when nothing seems right, you have ideas on how to fix, but you feel it would be best for all concerned to just drop it and move on/start again? A lost painting, but you still like those initial moments? Best thing I've done for months was to lay down some fat horse back ends, but then I throw it all away.